Pune: animal shelter: Jeev Raksha Animal Welfare Trust

Noodle

Hi all!

I'm new here and glad I have found my way here!

I have a question for the administration - I hope this is the right place to ask it?

I live in India and am actively involved in animal charity. I support a local animal shelter (a registered charity) for injured and sick stray dogs/cats/cows/buffalos etc. I have so far done this by putting up a donation appeal on two German forums (I'm German) and have this year managed to collect around 1500 Euro (the shelter provides receipts for every donation)!

So, I was wondering if I could put this donation appeal in this forum too, and if so where?

Thanks!

All the best,

Noodle

Sama

I have moved this thread to the charitable causes thread, so please post a link to this charity, and any other info you have about it. we can then change the title of this thread.

good cause!

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My India, 2005-2008

SANJAY_DEL

Some information for animal lovers visiting Delhi:
There is this unique hospital for birds right across the road from the Red Fort.
It is run by a Jain missionary society, and their spirit of compassion is really evocative.

Noodle

Thank you for moving the thread to the proper location!

The shelter is called Jeev Raksha Animal Welfare Trust and is located in Pune, Maharashtra. It was founded some 40 years ago by Lila Parulekar who is still running it. The shelter doesn’t have its own website – it is too poor – but there is some info online.

A pretty good description of the shelter is here:
KLICK

On this page at the bottom is photo of Lila:
KLICK

In 2002 she got the Venu Menon Animal Allies Award for her lifetime project:
KLICK

Currently I’m collecting money to enable her to build a larger cat enclosure. The cats are now housed in small cages and have no space to run, climb and play. We are planning to build a fenced, escape-proof enclosure, partly with a roof for shelter from sun and rain. Not sure yet how large it’s going to be, possibly around 30 ft by 30 ft. A first estimate was put at around 60000 Rs, approximately 1000 Euro. I have already received almost 200 Euro from people responding to my donation appeal on the German forum. It would be great if people here could pitch in, small amounts are also welcome!

I hope we will be able to build the cat enclosure before the next monsoon, which here starts in June!

So, anybody who would like to donate money for the cat enclosure please pm me, and I will send him my name and bank account details (I have an account in India as well as in London, UK, which makes it easy wherever you are).

To donate money to help with the shelter’s everyday costs, you can send money directly to the shelter’s bank account, which is:

Account name: Jeev Raksha Animal Welfare Trust
Bank: Bank of Baroda
Account number: 26748
Bank Address: Station Road Branch
Griha Nirman Bhavan
Near Alankar Theater
Agarkar Nagar
Mhada Building
Pune 410001

Thanks to everyone who wants to help! Small amounts are also welcome!

Noodle

steven_ber

Noodle

Have you considered offering someone a 2 week stay at the shelter in Pune, offering just basic accommodation and food, but offering them an opportunity to help in the day to day workings of the shelter, and an experience they will never forget.

The price.....

The person would have to take photos of the place, and create a website for you.

Seems like a fair exchange.

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Train information.

Noodle

Hi Steven,

this sounds like a good idea but I'm afraid there is no space for anyone to stay at the shelter. Besides, the building is in a VERY poor state ...

It's basically like this: it's one old house with ... I don't know ... 5 or 6 or 7 rooms, a kitchen, a couple of verandas ... the paint peels from the walls, the wood disintegrates, and the place is PACKED with dogs. Dogs everywhere, on the tables, beds, desks, chairs, under the furntiure ... she has about 250-300 dogs and they are all free to roam. It's not like an animal shelter in Europe. It's not very clean either ... many dogs have skin diseases that she is not able to keep under control, because she doesn't have the means to build seperate kennels for animals with infectious diseases.

'Basic accomodation' would be a mat on the floor inbetween the dogs, really I'm not kidding. Lila herself lives somewhere in the midst of this chaotic community.

Of course, in the day the dogs are mostly outside, but at night many sleep in the house. I just put a picture in my profile, that's me in front of the vet's room (one vet is there every day), feeding treats to the dogs.

But everyone who feels to will be welcome to stay somewhere else in Pune, in a hotel, and help at the shelter. Especially when we build the cat enclosure, helping hands are needed, keeps the costs down.

Sama

I commend you for trying to help. My heart has always been in a causes such as yours....animal causes can be tough here in the US, I can only imagine how hard it would be in India.

I truly hope you get lots of help -- and money!

wishing you a peaceful heart....

Noodle

Thank you Yogagal!

Nick-H

Glad you are doing this work

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Just one member of the IndiaMike Mod Team

Noodle

People were generous over Christmas - I now have 530 collected for the cat enclosure.

Almost half of what I need to build it

Noodle

650 Euro now!

__________________
If in hole
stop digging.

Indian saying

sirensongs

HOORAY for you and the critters!

Don't know where you are in Pune, but if you haven't yet, you should troll around K-Park and Shivajinagar, the 2 biggest foreigner hangouts. Put up flyers. All the best in this great project.

__________________
"Why do people go to India to find themselves? India is where you go to lose yourself."
Feringhee: The India Diaries

Noodle

Thank you! My experience has always been that most of the foreigners come to meditate and holidays and are not very interested in street dogs. The few I know that live here have dogs themselves and are all on a very tight budget. But maybe you're right and I should step up my efforts. Thanks for the suggestion.

Noodle

Hi all!

Just wanted to let you all know that now I have 1,130 Euro collected! Almost there to finally build the cat enclosure!

I talked to a fabricator today and it seems that my estimate of 1,300 Euro was about right.

But we will also have to put up a roof (iron sheets) and some kind of shelter inside for when it gets cooler, etc. The ground needs to be done as well in a way that it doesn't transform into a mud slide during monsoons. So, there will be more donations to collect! But we will get there in time.

In any case, the building of the cat enclosure will start not very long from now!

Noodle

Hi!

Just wanted to update this: we are now starting to build the cat enclosure! Today I went with the fabricator to the shelter and we talked to Lila and decided in detail where the enclosure should be and how exactly it should be done etc.

It will be smaller than I had hoped for because a) money is trickling slowly and I feel I want to get on with it now, and b) she actually doesn't have a very large space to build it on. There is plenty of room behind the house but there are no trees, so no shade, and we decided against that location. Instead it will sit under a bunch of large palm trees. It'll be 14 by 18 feet and have a roof that's a bit wider on each side, so it should be dry inside, or almost dry. Right now the cats are sitting in cages about 5 by 10 feet, some in even smaller ones.

She has a lot of stone tiles which we will use for the floor, so that problem is also taken care of.

I'm really excited this is getting under way now!

I will post pictures once it's up!